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Western Ribbon Snake

When I was a kid we’d count the number of stripes on our sneakers and that would indicate how fast those shoes were – the more stripes the faster you’d run. Following that logic, this is a fast snake.

I nearly ran over this lovely creature on our little road yesterday. The 3500 pound all-wheel drive vehicle didn’t cause it to move, but when I stepped out to engage in some portrait photography, this snake was as quick as its stripes indicated.

The book says that female Western Ribbon Snakes are bigger than males, but the males have longer tails. If you can look at this snake and tell whether it is male or female by the length of the tail, let me know. These snakes hunt around water, and particularly like larval salamanders.